Sbell's recent finds!

I have realized that I don't have a thread on here for when I get new stuff! So it is time to fix that, since I just came back from a trip to Florida and found a few great things (and left behind a lot of terrible things).

First off, I found a ridiculous number of rays--and this doesn't even count my kids' stuffed animals...

The big one is a ray from Sun Wai. The species isn't particularly obvious, but I think it is sort of representative of a Blue Stingray Dasyatis chrysonota. It's a water squirter, but it never will be! Most interesting is that it has not one but two barbs on the tail.

Second, I picked up some new sets of the Club Earth rays set. My origial ones were more pearlescentin colour, but these would be more 'bright'. They are also stickier than the pearl ones, so I'm hoping that they dry out soon.

Finally, although we avoided Sea World, they did have 2 gift shops in the airport--and apparently Sea World has manufactured their own figures! I don't collect marine mammals, which dominated, but they did have what might be the nicest Spotted Eagle Ray I have--and an odd coloured Leopard shark.

Two of those are Battat re-release dinos, a Ceratosaurus and Amargasaurus. Only available at Target, and since that chain only lasted a few months here in Canada, I had to get them while there! Plus, my son found a 4D puzzle 'raptor' model, which is clearly based on the Ornitholestes from Walking with Dinosaurs.

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I didn't know Club Earth is still producing models. You have probably the answer but I think I already saw these rays but painted.

The Spotted Eagle Ray looks a lot like the Safari Ltd one, isn't it?

I've never seen the rays in a painted, solid form--several years back I got the set, but it was still a 'stretchy' set. If they ever did make painted ones, I would love to have them, but I don't know of any.

And the ray is totally unique--similar in bulk to the Schleich, but better sculpted.Safari:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

You were down here in Orlando? Ah, I know a store in Cocoa Beach (about the closest beach to Orlando) that you might have enjoyed- The Dinosaur Store. I love getting to go there and ogle the dino stuff and great rocks.

Sbell said- And yes, it was much niceer there than it is here--although the locals were wearing long pants and sweaters! It was 'only' 28C or so every day!Yes, if it was the past week, it was chilly to us! As a native Floridian, anything below 85F is long pants to me, sleeves below 80F! Guess it all depends on what you're used to. I always thought people who swam in the winter were nuts, and am most comfortable at 90F. I like 95F!

sbell

Country/State : CanadaAge : 42Joined : 2013-11-06Posts : 982

Subject: Re: Sbell's recent finds! Sat Oct 31, 2015 2:59 am

pipsxlch wrote:

You were down here in Orlando? Ah, I know a store in Cocoa Beach (about the closest beach to Orlando) that you might have enjoyed- The Dinosaur Store. I love getting to go there and ogle the dino stuff and great rocks.

Sbell said- And yes, it was much niceer there than it is here--although the locals were wearing long pants and sweaters! It was 'only' 28C or so every day!Yes, if it was the past week, it was chilly to us! As a native Floridian, anything below 85F is long pants to me, sleeves below 80F! Guess it all depends on what you're used to. I always thought people who swam in the winter were nuts, and am most comfortable at 90F. I like 95F!

I would have liked to see that! But we were pretty busy the whole time, and I had no opportunity to hit any neaches at all (did get out to the Kissimmee swamps though).

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KikimalouAdmin

Country/State : Lille, FRANCEAge : 52Joined : 2010-04-01Posts : 14783

Subject: Re: Sbell's recent finds! Sat Oct 31, 2015 6:56 am

sbell wrote:

I've never seen the rays in a painted, solid form--several years back I got the set, but it was still a 'stretchy' set. If they ever did make painted ones, I would love to have them, but I don't know of any.

So I may have dreamed of them or there are some models closed to these ones. I'm not a specialist!

sbell wrote:

And the ray is totally unique--similar in bulk to the Schleich, but better sculpted.Safari:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I've never seen the rays in a painted, solid form--several years back I got the set, but it was still a 'stretchy' set. If they ever did make painted ones, I would love to have them, but I don't know of any.

So I may have dreamed of them or there are some models closed to these ones. I'm not a specialist!

sbell wrote:

And the ray is totally unique--similar in bulk to the Schleich, but better sculpted.Safari:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

So I just received my first commissioned fish models, sculpted by DTF member [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]--casts of which will be available in my store as soon as some adjustments are made!

Sean, this project with fish figures is very interesting! Will you provide us a walk around of this revolutionary spinosaurus? The change is so dramatic that this replica represents an important step in the history of this hobby, I guess.

What I appreciate with the Great white shark is its size, it seems far bigger than other brands great whites. The Blacktip reef shark seems also excellent, could you make a comparison topic with the Safari Ltd one?

The long awaited Spinosaurus is very interesting too, despite the moving jaw are not really convincing for me. It seems the same size as the Carnegie one, isn't it? Will you add the two smaller ones to your shelves? Of course I second Roger for a walkaround

The three Ps are beautiful, did you paint them? I never heard of the African Freshwater Butterflyfish. The scale seems 1:2 or 1:3 for this one. An incredibly beautiful but fierce predator

The scale varies; it was more about sizing (I suppose I should have out something in there). And no, I didn't paint them, the sculptor did. When we get the designs finalized, they will be painted, and most likely each one will vary a little (especially the butterflyfish!).

The Pantodon is about 1:1; they aren't a huge fish, but they are tough (I have a live one in my fish tank).

The other ones are obviously much smaller scale--the lungfish grows to 1m, and the bichir about 35cm (I have one of those two, an albino one). Both figures are about 10cm long.

And I can see about doing a walkaround. I probably won't be able to get to it until this weekend.

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pipsxlch

Country/State : US/FloridaAge : 49Joined : 2015-03-13Posts : 325

Subject: Re: Sbell's recent finds! Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:51 am

I kept African Butterflies for years, so I'm enjoying that one. They're neat fish; I kept them in more peaceful cichlid tanks with lots of water sprite. They were pretty long lived, good personalities, didn't look for trouble but didn't put up with it either.Hey Sbell, did you see that line of Portuguese models Roger found with some interesting fish? Several freshwater ones that were intriguing.

sbell

Country/State : CanadaAge : 42Joined : 2013-11-06Posts : 982

Subject: Re: Sbell's recent finds! Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:58 am

pipsxlch wrote:

I kept African Butterflies for years, so I'm enjoying that one. They're neat fish; I kept them in more peaceful cichlid tanks with lots of water sprite. They were pretty long lived, good personalities, didn't look for trouble but didn't put up with it either.Hey Sbell, did you see that line of Portuguese models Roger found with some interesting fish? Several freshwater ones that were intriguing.

I didn't see that. But now I'll have to find that!

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I kept African Butterflies for years, so I'm enjoying that one. They're neat fish; I kept them in more peaceful cichlid tanks with lots of water sprite. They were pretty long lived, good personalities, didn't look for trouble but didn't put up with it either.Hey Sbell, did you see that line of Portuguese models Roger found with some interesting fish? Several freshwater ones that were intriguing.

I didn't see that. But now I'll have to find that!

I enjoy to see all the interest around these little figures I am only afraid I can't find as many as are being demanded. They're not cheap either.You can see [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] the original package presentation.[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] a big lot that was for sale but I don't know if all are Azur premium figures. :)If you can identify them what I doubt once pics are not good enough, please provide me a list and I list these figures at the Wiki.

p.s. if you can't open the pictures, you probably have to click in the word "aqui" in these pages.

I kept African Butterflies for years, so I'm enjoying that one. They're neat fish; I kept them in more peaceful cichlid tanks with lots of water sprite. They were pretty long lived, good personalities, didn't look for trouble but didn't put up with it either.Hey Sbell, did you see that line of Portuguese models Roger found with some interesting fish? Several freshwater ones that were intriguing.

I didn't see that. But now I'll have to find that!

I enjoy to see all the interest around these little figures I am only afraid I can't find as many as are being demanded. They're not cheap either.You can see [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] the original package presentation.[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] a big lot that was for sale but I don't know if all are Azur premium figures. :)If you can identify them what I doubt once pics are not good enough, please provide me a list and I list these figures at the Wiki.

p.s. if you can't open the pictures, you probably have to click in the word "aqui" in these pages.

Those are very cool--and I recognize some from sets I had as a kid, and later got again as an adult.

I would love to pester you for them, but I really only need--yes NEED--one of them, a figure I've never seen before--the Malapterus catfish. I have never seen one made by anybody! The striped fish above it would be cool too.

So, yeah, if you can hunt that down, that would be great--or at least point me in the right direction. I can always trade as well! I'm expecting a big lot of Yujin fish (with, yes, the carp) that will have a bunch of spares, for example!

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Last edited by sbell on Wed Nov 18, 2015 9:15 pm; edited 1 time in total

RogerAdmin

Country/State : PortugalJoined : 2010-08-20Posts : 21726

Subject: Re: Sbell's recent finds! Wed Nov 18, 2015 9:14 pm

Kikimalou wrote:

Congratulation Sean for identifying a Malapterus catfish in the batch

I can see a lot of models used by Prior in his fish series. You can watch them [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

If Malapterus catfish is the one called Silure, I can find it for less than 2€. Tell me if it could help.

That's interesting and I remember seeing this page before. That's all so confuse, even Portuguese collectors of vintage premium figures are not able of determining with exactitude which figures belonged to each collection. This page about Prior helps actually. It also seems that Prior versions are more common than Azur figures so I am glad you can help Sean. Not easy at all to find Azur fish around and all the collectors I tried to contact haven't replied yet. I find some on auction websites but almost always Zoo figures and often between 3 and 5 Euros what I find expensive. It seems Prior have no bird series neither dog series, isn't it Christophe?

That's definitely the one! Yes, please help me get one. Can you get others as well? There are a few others that might be of interest.

I can try, tell me your list

Roger wrote:

That's interesting and I remember seeing this page before. That's all so confuse, even Portuguese collectors of vintage premium figures are not able of determining with exactitude which figures belonged to each collection. This page about Prior helps actually. It also seems that Prior versions are more common than Azur figures so I am glad you can help Sean. Not easy at all to find Azur fish around and all the collectors I tried to contact haven't replied yet. I find some on auction websites but almost always Zoo figures and often between 3 and 5 Euros what I find expensive. It seems Prior have no bird series neither dog series, isn't it Christophe?

Prior never made the birds and dogs series an dit is really too bad. I agree they are easier to find and cheaper too so I hope I can help.

I can see a lot of models used by Prior in his fish series. You can watch them [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

If Malapterus catfish is the one called Silure, I can find it for less than 2€. Tell me if it could help.

That's interesting and I remember seeing this page before. That's all so confuse, even Portuguese collectors of vintage premium figures are not able of determining with exactitude which figures belonged to each collection. This page about Prior helps actually. It also seems that Prior versions are more common than Azur figures so I am glad you can help Sean. Not easy at all to find Azur fish around and all the collectors I tried to contact haven't replied yet. I find some on auction websites but almost always Zoo figures and often between 3 and 5 Euros what I find expensive. It seems Prior have no bird series neither dog series, isn't it Christophe?

Looking at the Prior figures, I definitely have or had some repaint/recast versions, although not as nice. The ones I would want the most, like the Malapterus (Silure), I've never seen.

Although not of the same level, this is the sort of set we would now see from some of the Japanese companies!

_________________Looking for animal figures? I have an actual online store, out of Canada! [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I'm also a big freshwater fish-figure fan. Know of anything new and exciting? I need to know as well!

pipsxlch

Country/State : US/FloridaAge : 49Joined : 2015-03-13Posts : 325

Subject: Re: Sbell's recent finds! Wed Nov 18, 2015 9:31 pm

Interesting models all around; too bad they're so hard to find! I wonder if it would be worthwhile to try to pool and purchase a lot like Roger found to split?

It looks like the same molds were used, but there are so many more of the Azur ones. (and the ones I'm most interested in durnit! want the goldfish, freshwater angel and discus) Is that a pretty comprehensive listing of the Prior molds, or just what they had to sell?

Here is the link from Roger's previous post in the other thread again. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I asked Google to translate the Prior page, and many of the species are mislabeled IF it translated correctly. For instance, the 'guppy' is a modern Betta splendens/Siamese fighting fish. The prices are good though, my top two picks for only 3 Euro total! Very tempting!

sbell

Country/State : CanadaAge : 42Joined : 2013-11-06Posts : 982

Subject: Re: Sbell's recent finds! Wed Nov 18, 2015 9:35 pm

pipsxlch wrote:

Interesting models all around; too bad they're so hard to find! I wonder if it would be worthwhile to try to pool and purchase a lot like Roger found to split?

It looks like the same molds were used, but there are so many more of the Azur ones. (and the ones I'm most interested in durnit! want the goldfish, freshwater angel and discus) Is that a pretty comprehensive listing of the Prior molds, or just what they had to sell?

Here is the link from Roger's previous post in the other thread again. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I asked Google to translate the Prior page, and many of the species are mislabeled IF it translated correctly. For instance, the 'guppy' is a modern Betta splendens/Siamese fighting fish. The prices are good though, my top two picks for only 3 Euro total! Very tempting!

More disturbing--the 'Balentio' is suppose to be a bala shark...I have two, and they don't like that. But the Labeo would be cool. And the Colissa. And yes, reasonable prices!

_________________Looking for animal figures? I have an actual online store, out of Canada! [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I'm also a big freshwater fish-figure fan. Know of anything new and exciting? I need to know as well!

pipsxlch

Country/State : US/FloridaAge : 49Joined : 2015-03-13Posts : 325

Subject: Re: Sbell's recent finds! Wed Nov 18, 2015 10:33 pm

Is a bala what Balentio is supposed to be?!? I couldn't make heads nor tails of that one, looks like it's a dolphin or something!I like the red tail labeo also (was thinking of doing a custom one out of a gashapon) and the Colisa, though strictly speaking Pearl gouramis are Trichopodus genus not Colisa. At least they're recognizable and not waaAAay off in name. Could be the common name issue also. The Botia really jumped at me, looks more like a Hoplo cat. Some I'm not sure what they're supposed to be, or they don't look right, but I'm not sure of my translation and/or would like to see the figure better to judge.

sbell

Country/State : CanadaAge : 42Joined : 2013-11-06Posts : 982

Subject: Re: Sbell's recent finds! Wed Nov 18, 2015 10:47 pm

pipsxlch wrote:

Is a bala what Balentio is supposed to be?!? I couldn't make heads nor tails of that one, looks like it's a dolphin or something!I like the red tail labeo also (was thinking of doing a custom one out of a gashapon) and the Colisa, though strictly speaking Pearl gouramis are Trichopodus genus not Colisa. At least they're recognizable and not waaAAay off in name. Could be the common name issue also. The Botia really jumped at me, looks more like a Hoplo cat. Some I'm not sure what they're supposed to be, or they don't look right, but I'm not sure of my translation and/or would like to see the figure better to judge.

I looked up Balentio in Google imagesand saw what fish images I could get--and that was the only one.

To me, the only vertebrate it actually matches is an ichthyosaur--pointed snout, single dorsal, paired flippers, vertical tail.

And yeah, I just like the pearl gourami--but for simplicity, I just used the name on the site. Also, agreed re: the botia/hoplo cat. A real botia would make me much happier.

_________________Looking for animal figures? I have an actual online store, out of Canada! [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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RogerAdmin

Country/State : PortugalJoined : 2010-08-20Posts : 21726

Subject: Re: Sbell's recent finds! Thu Nov 19, 2015 1:13 am

Kikimalou wrote:

sbell wrote:

That's definitely the one! Yes, please help me get one. Can you get others as well? There are a few others that might be of interest.

I can try, tell me your list

Roger wrote:

That's interesting and I remember seeing this page before. That's all so confuse, even Portuguese collectors of vintage premium figures are not able of determining with exactitude which figures belonged to each collection. This page about Prior helps actually. It also seems that Prior versions are more common than Azur figures so I am glad you can help Sean. Not easy at all to find Azur fish around and all the collectors I tried to contact haven't replied yet. I find some on auction websites but almost always Zoo figures and often between 3 and 5 Euros what I find expensive. It seems Prior have no bird series neither dog series, isn't it Christophe?

Prior never made the birds and dogs series an dit is really too bad. I agree they are easier to find and cheaper too so I hope I can help.

Thanks Christophe, so I'll concentrate in these birds and see what I can find for reasonable prices to those interested. Maybe I can try also to get some fish missing in Prior collection. Prior are marked while Azur are not what turns things not so easy. Azur dogs are marked with breed what is a curious detail. Well Sean, we're a little off topic but now everything is more or less clearer.

That's definitely the one! Yes, please help me get one. Can you get others as well? There are a few others that might be of interest.

I can try, tell me your list

Roger wrote:

That's interesting and I remember seeing this page before. That's all so confuse, even Portuguese collectors of vintage premium figures are not able of determining with exactitude which figures belonged to each collection. This page about Prior helps actually. It also seems that Prior versions are more common than Azur figures so I am glad you can help Sean. Not easy at all to find Azur fish around and all the collectors I tried to contact haven't replied yet. I find some on auction websites but almost always Zoo figures and often between 3 and 5 Euros what I find expensive. It seems Prior have no bird series neither dog series, isn't it Christophe?

Prior never made the birds and dogs series an dit is really too bad. I agree they are easier to find and cheaper too so I hope I can help.

Thanks Christophe, so I'll concentrate in these birds and see what I can find for reasonable prices to those interested. Maybe I can try also to get some fish missing in Prior collection. Prior are marked while Azur are not what turns things not so easy. Azur dogs are marked with breed what is a curious detail. Well Sean, we're a little off topic but now everything is more or less clearer.

That's okay--if it brings me more fish figures, I'm all good! Christophe, please let me know what ones are available (you can just PM me) and we'll go from there!

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Favorite Megalodon & ArchelonNeko Works Greenland shark and Starry Smooth Hound shark (two of the latter)Furuta HypostomusKaiyodo ChocoQ Painted Frogfish with associated goby (any idea on the species, for those who have it?)Kaiyodo Hokkaido Sakehaline tamienKaiyodo Deep sea Delafish (on Viperfish base--I seem to get a lot of those with different owners!)Kaiyodo Paleozoic re-release Eusthenopteron, Bothriolepis, Pterygotus & opabiniaKaiyodo Sendai Aquarium WolffishNature Technicolor (Science Technicolor) Planarian on strap22 Yujin Freshwater fishes, from Release I and II; with almost the right number of bases! Fortunately, almost all are doubles--but I did finally track down an elusive Carp figure, plus the gold Carassius auratus langsdorfii. So expect those walkarounds, plus a few comparison shots from various Series I & II that I can now pair up (loach, snakehead, flounder...I think that's them).And...an empty Colorata Box (Marine Mammals). Because it was there, and I use them to stay organized...

And I still get to put everything together! Although I may leave some of the Yujins bagged in case other people might be looking--once I know what's there!

I also received the Jurassic World Blu-Ray box with T.rex and I.rex models (not pictured). Good models for a so-so movie.

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And a...something. I honestly have no idea on this one--possibly a deep-sea fish of some kind. It's more of a solid plastic than the others, like a Marx figure.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And, as a surprise, a neat little plastic hyena (of a brand I have to determine):[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Any IDs are welcome, since PRIOR doesn't use name markings. And I have spares of some, so they may need new homes!

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